How do I get into graduate school?

Getting into graduate school is a long and arduous process, stretching from August, through the winter, and into March. This guide will draw a box around the graduate application process, but will not go into detail in each step. You will go through doing or getting:

• Advisor hunting
• Recommendation letters
• Transcripts
• Statement of Purpose
• Applications

Before this application process even begins, you need to have established that you want to go to graduate school. We'll say you have decided already.

You must find an advisor! He or she will be a professor at an university who oversees research projects. He will be your future boss. You may want to work with this person if their work matches your interests. Contact them by email, then by phone; let them know your interest.

You need recommendation letters! These letters will be provided by professors and bosses you've interacted with in undergrad. They have a good idea who you are, how you work, and can say good things about you. Ask them for letters.

You need transcripts! These papers tell your graduate school the classes you took and the grades you got.

You will write a Statement of Purpose! This document you craft tells your future advisor what your interests are, how good of a worker you are, what visions you see in the your industry, and how the university meets what you're looking for. This is commonly 1-3 pages and requires about a month of writing and editing. DO NOT skimp on this.

You will fill out applications! These are simple. Fill them out online, takes 10-30 minutes each. You will likely upload your transcript, letters, and Statement of Purpose here. You will also include $20-$100 in application fees.

This is the general process for getting applications into graduate school. Other articles will help you in other needs. Good luck!

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